Kyoshi
by Queen of the Batterbos
Summary: The story of how Kyoshi went from a clumsy little girl to the strong avatar who saved the world. As always, rating subject to change.
1. From a girl to an Earth bender

"I said be careful, Kyoshi! Hey, come on. You can cry. Come here."  
Jaya picked up her daughter and rubbed circles on her back as Kyoshi sniffed away her tears. Kyoshi was practicing not crying- if she cried, someone made fun of her. She was naturally clumsy but her mother said it would get better as she grew older. She didn't see any improvement- she was 4 years old and she still just as easily ran in to the cupboards as she did when she was 3! "Hey, it's ok, Kyoshi, mama's got you." a tear rolled down her cheek. Then another. Next she was crying. Crying because she was crying. Jaya pulled back from her daughter to look her in the face. "You know, when you cry, you show that you are human and humans are as strong as anyone can be in here," her mother's finger poked her chest. "So it's ok to cry, Kyoshi, and if anyone dares to laugh at you for it, I give you full permission to punch them in the nose and see them try not to cry." Despite her tears, Kyoshi grinned at the thought. "Ok, mama. What's for lunch?"

* * *

Kyoshi was running and laughing with the other children in her village when ran into a tree. She cried a little because it hurt."Ha! Still a cry-baby, Kyoshi? Cry-baby Kyoshi! Cry-baby Kyoshi! Cry-baby Kyoshi!"  
Daruka sang while slowly others joined. With tears still coming down her face, Kyoshi stood up and walked up to the ring leader. Without a word, she planted her fist into his nose. He started crying instantly. Feeling slightly bad, she took Daruka to his mother and explained to situation in her most adult and factual voice. She apologised and helped clean up his nose (which was bleeding from her punch).

"You know, Kyoshi, you're really strong for a girl." he attempted to say (the cloth on his nose didn't help)  
"No, I'm just really strong. Sorry I punched you."

"Sorry I laughed at you. Shall we be friends?"

"Yeah, ok." Kyoshi smiled at him- she'd never had a friend before.

* * *

"Hello Daruka, how is your mother?" Daruka gulped down his water.

"She is well, Miss Jaya. How are you?"  
Jaya smiled at the boy. He was always so polite. "I am well, thank you. Where's Kyoshi?"

"She's making mud pies. I'm coming to help her. Thank you, Miss Jaya!"  
Daruka slipped off the chair and ran off through the door. Jaya smiled at the pair. They had remained friends for 2 years now and they were like twins- inseparable and almost identical. The pair had the same brown eyes, mop of brown hair and sharp chins. Jaya watched the two play.

"If we make enough mud pies, Kyoshi, we can sell them to the other kids and make lots of money! And we could have a mud pie shop!"

"Yeah! And we can say they are the best mud pies ever! But what about the Choo sisters? They can make theirs without touching them. We can't beat that."  
Kyoshi sulked. Daruka smiled at Kyoshi before taking a traditional stance. He frowned and lifted his arm, hand in a fist and a small lump of rock lifted. Jaya smiled at her daughters delight and determination to now earth bend

"Ok, Kyoshi, put your feet really wide and like your arms like this," Daruka said, adopting the horse stance.

"Yes, Sifu Ruka." and Kyoshi copied.

"Now feel the energy flowing through you?" Kyoshi nodded, "yeah, now send it through your foot and into the earth to make a little rock hill, as big as your hand." Daruka demonstrated perfectly but with obvious concentration. Kyoshi set her face and mirrored movement. A spire of earth shot out the earth, as tall as Kyoshi's leg. Jaya laughed at her daughter's surprise while Daruka smiled at her.

"That was great but you need to have control. Maybe if you get better of understanding the earth, you might not trip over as much." Kyoshi frowned as she weighed up what Daruka meant.

"So I try again, make it smaller and I won't be so clumsy? Ok!" Kyoshi made the same pose and tried again. The result was smaller but only marginally.  
Kyoshi's brow furrowed further. She tried again and again, smaller but still a spire. She tried until it was knee height, Daruka tried telling her she was doing well but Jaya knew Kyoshi was not going to speak or acknowledge anyone until she had made a mound the size of her hand. On her 7th attempt she did made a small enough. Kyoshi whooped and then fell on her face in the soil.

"Kyoshi! You did it!" Daruka shouted. "Kyoshi?" he asked, noticing she hadn't moved.

"Give me a minute and I'll do it again." She said. Jaya walked outside and placed her hand on Kyoshi's back.

"Just like your father. You know, he would keep doing something until he collapsed or got it right. And then it was whichever came last." Jaya smiled- Kyoshi had always been more of her father than of her. Jaya picked her daughter up. "It's wonderful that you can bend but you need some food. Ok?"  
Kyoshi nodded. Daruka ran on ahead into the house while Jaya carried her daughter. "You know, you are way too heavy to be 6 years old."

* * *

Ok, wow it's been ages but hey. So I inspiration struck me this morning and I wrote this. I have a rough idea where this is going and I will try to keep it as cannon as possible. So you know.

(Ack! The separation thing won't like me!)


	2. From an Earth Bender to Avatar

As Kyoshi grew older, she learnt to be more controlled. She never ran anymore, yet her height meant there was no time lost in getting anywhere. Jaya watched her daughter grow and noticed she seemed to have always lacked an aspect of femininity with her tall frame and increasingly stern face. It was the month after her 11th birthday when Kyoshi first realised that that made her stand out.

"But Miss, the skirts are all too big! They reach the floor and then you can't walk. Do you have any that fit?" Kyoshi pleaded with her teacher. The green dress reached the floor and had sleeves that Kyoshi thought were squeezing her arms thinner.

"Actually, Miss Kyoshi, you will find that dress is too small," Kyoshi's eyes flared open, "and I have sent the seamstress to find a dress from the older girls. It is traditional to wear a full dress on the day of the King's birthday. It isn't my fault that you have been away every time the occasion occurred. Now stop complaining; grab a fan and get into line." Kyoshi muttered curses under her breath as she shuffled over to the tray of fans and grabbed a pair.  
"Now, assume the Kakusareta position." Kyoshi frowned as she pulled a fan over her face, the other facing down from the base of the other. She felt the seam straining. "Kyoshi, neutral face- I can still see your eyes remember." The Choo sisters giggled.  
"Choo, you two too." Kyoshi snickered. The teacher sighed- this was going to take all day.

"Kyoshi, go to the seamstress to see if she has found a dress yet. Now, Jūji position." The rest of the girls placed a fan by each shoulder as Kyoshi shuffled out of the room. She shuffled past the boys in the courtyard, performing a ceremonial warrior dance. Daruka was too far away for Kyoshi to catch his eye, so she continued shuffling past. She finally found her way to the seamstress to find her cursing.

"How on earth am I supposed to find a dress for a child when I can't even have her to try on dresses? It's not as if I have an entire village worth of girls to dress today! That Mrs Chang will work me to explosion. Come in!" the seamstress shouted.

"Um, I am here to try on a dress as this one is apparently too small." The seamstress sighed.

"Are you Kyoshi, the child the size of an armadillo-bear cub, as your teacher so eloquently put it?" The older woman rubbed her temples in anticipation of a headache.

"Yes. I was sent here to try on dresses though I suspect it is more likely to my 'insufferable grumbling and insolent laughing' as Mrs Chang so eloquently put it the other week." The seam stress smiled and Kyoshi smiled back.

"Sorry if I was rude- I'm having a bad day. Now, of you go behind that screen and try on one of these." A bundle of dresses were dumped in Kyoshi's arms.

"Ok."

* * *

It took 3 dresses to find one that fit to both Kyoshi's and the seamstresses standards. The skirt had to be pinned to stop Kyoshi falling over.

"Ok, I'm guessing you haven't had much time to practice the positions today have you?" Kyoshi shook her head.  
"Kakusareta?" Kyoshi instantly formed the position. "Jūji?" again, Kyoshi jumped into the position. "Kamakiri?" Kyoshi snapped the fans shut, assumed the arms of horse stance and opened her fans facing down. "To fan?" Kyoshi flipped the fans and fanned her face slightly.

"I know them all, Mrs Chang just doesn't know that. I'm going to show them all up when she thinks I'll be behind everyone else!" Kyoshi grinned. "I have to go now, thank you so much." Kyoshi turned and strode out of the seamstresses makeshift office. Kyoshi walked to the courtyard where the rest of the girls stood lined up to have their makeup done. A white face with a calm blue over the eyes, outlined in black. On the other side of the courtyard, the boys applied their own war paint- red stripes with black slashes. Kyoshi waited patiently for her turn and was stone-faced as she was painted. The girls lined up for the parade, backs straight, fans tucked into their belts. While her face remained perfectly controlled, Kyoshi smirked on the inside as she marched in sync with the others. She was going to show them that she was just as good as any of them.

* * *

After the parade Kyoshi walked home alone. While she enjoyed out performing everyone else, she did not expect the outburst from Mrs Chang. Two lines of tears wiped away her makeup. How was Kyoshi supposed to know that doing exactly as she was told to the best of her ability was wrong? How was she supposed to know it was wrong to hide her talent and somehow look out of place in a line of identical girls with identical movements? Kyoshi sniffed and looked up. Her mother stood in the doorway, Daruka behind her. For what seems like the first time in years, Jaya saw her daughter run to her crying. Jaya crouched low and hugged her daughter.

"You looked beautiful, Kyoshi. Mrs Chang is silly if she thought that you didn't fit in. You couldn't- you shone." Jaya cooed. Kyoshi continued crying.

Daruka took a slurp of his water awkwardly. He was never good when people cried, seeing the last time Kyoshi cried in front of him was the day they became friends. He noticed that the girls had stopped hugging and Kyoshi was getting up to go wash her face. He'll never know if Jaya head it or just ignored it but he smiled when Kyoshi muttered "Screw Mrs Chang and being a lady. I'm going to be a warrior."

* * *

By her twelfth birthday, everyone had accepted that Kyoshi was always going to wear the makeup she wore. The same as any traditional lady but with red streaks around her eyes instead of blue. She was a warrior. With Daruka she developed a style of fighting that only used her fans. Her uncle, the blacksmith was kind enough to provide her metal fans for her birthday after he caught the two practicing. Jaya knew that everyone thought it was a phase but she knew her Kyoshi- this was a stand. She was proving that she was a lady but a warrior too. Because of her dedication to fighting, she didn't discover she could fire bend until she was 14.

Kyoshi strode through the market, looking for the merchants from abroad. Her mother's birthday was soon and a present was required. Marching past the usual stalls she nearly walked past too men arguing over the price of bread.

"And I'm telling you that 5 bronze pieces is too much."  
"Sir, the price is 5 bronze pieces. Either buy the bread or leave." Kyoshi stopped and wandered over the bakers. A merchant was arguing over a loaf that could feed her and her mum for 5 days.

"2 bronze pieces it the highest I'm paying for a stinking loaf of bread!"

"Is there a problem, sir?" Kyoshi interrupted.

"Shove off, this is none-" The man stopped when he saw Kyoshi- 5' 11'', painted face and stern expression. He shook his head and continued. "This is none of your concern, madam. Now if you excuse me, I must handle this crook here." Kyoshi frowned.

"Are you suggesting it is a crime to claim a fair price for your wares and feed your family?" Kyoshi asked. Locals stepped back from her as she reached for her fans.

"What? You're actually standing up for this criminal? I'll have you know that this price exceeds Earth Kingdom regulation! So stick to what you know, little girl." Kyoshi snapped her fans out and stepped towards the man.

"I'll have you know that Earth Kingdom regulation states that bread may be priced according to the price of the flour. The flour used in that particular loaf is distinctively Earth Kingdom, therefore cheaper than the grain used in most bread you may have come across, which uses Air nomad grains, which they receive for very little money. I must reiterate the baker's point- buy the bread or leave."

"No. I'm not listening to a bratty little girl is overdone, out of date make up pretending to know sh-"

"ENOUGH!" and flames licked Kyoshi's fans from her clenched hands. The merchant looked down in fear. Kyoshi's gaze flicked down to see the fire. She pursed her lips before raising one arm. The man's eyes reflected the flickering. "Are you going to pay or are you going to leave the man alone?" The man merely nodded and scampered off. Kyoshi frowned and snorted in the hope of extinguishing the flames. They disappeared and she tucked her fans in her belt.

"Well that's new. Are you ok, sir?" She turned to the baker. He shook his head and whispered something. A word she had only heard in legends, in hope and in excitement- never fear.

Avatar.


	3. From The Avatar to Fire Bender trainee

Kyoshi folded clothes, staring into space.

"You know, if I didn't know you any better, I would think you wanted to pack your old dress." Daruka smiled as Kyoshi jolted back into the room.

"I was packing that? Wow, I really wasn't in the room, was I?" she raised her eyebrow, at lot easier now she was sans makeup.

"Yeah. I think I know why. You want to go off to the fire nation and learn your awesome avatar powers but you don't want to leave your mother by herself." Kyoshi smiled yet her demean remained downcast.

"Spot on. I know she has uncle and your parents, it's just that she's already lost father and her parents and now her only daughter is off to the fire nation. And then an air-temple and then one of the water tribes. That's a long time. I'll be at least 17 when I come home. And I don't want to leave her either. It has always been just me and mama and you. I don't want to lose her." Daruka frowned.

"You say that like you're not going to miss me." Daruka pouted. Kyoshi grabbed a fan and smacked him with it.

"I'm not- every avatar has a team. You're mine." Daruka's face widened with glee.

"Ok, we were going to have a meaningful conversation but that can wait until I've told my parents. Daruka ran out of the door and past Jaya. Jaya smiled as he ran shouting for his parents.

"Kyoshi?" Jaya asked

"Yes, mama?"

"I came to see how your packing went. I see you've told Daruka he's coming too." Kyoshi smiled.

"Yeah, I hope his parents take it well. How are you?" Kyoshi looked at her mother, seeing her eyes were not bloodshot as she would expect.

"I am fine and will continue to be so as long as I get regular letters. And if you find any foods you like from the fire nation or anywhere else, you tell me and I'll learn how to cook it just for you. In fact, if you send me recipes, I could open a little business where I can cook food from all over the world." Kyoshi grinned at her mother's business plan.

"I'll write as long as I get letters back." Kyoshi smiled. Jaya reached out and hugged her daughter.

"I'm going to miss you, Avatar Kyoshi. And if you find any fellow out there who catches your eye, you send him my way so I can convince him of your less scary properties!" Kyoshi bent down to place her chin on her mother's shoulder.

"I will. I'm going to miss you too."

Neither women cried until Kyoshi was on the boat, sailing away from home.

* * *

"Avatar, we are approaching the shore." Kyoshi nodded, dismissing the man. She sat up from her bed and found a mirror to finish her makeup. While she knew the fire nation wouldn't understand the significance of her makeup, she knew she was still making a stand. She was finishing the red on her second eye before Daruka appeared.

"Hello, Avatar Kyoshi. I see you're putting your face on. I'll do the lines on the left side of your face for you. We're just pulling up to dock." He knelt down in front of her. "Are you ready for the fire nation? I'm feeling the heat of this place already."

"Obviously." Kyoshi murmured as she painted her lips. Daruka was already wearing fire nation clothes that were lighter and freer flowing than her dress.

"I give it 5 days before you ditch the dress and makeup. I mean, I've never worn the stuff but your face must swelter when it's hot."

"Focus, Ruka." Kyoshi muttered. She was still mourning almost for her mother.

"Done! I say, you look terrifying as per usual, Kyoshi." He helped her to her feet, knowing she wouldn't take it if she wasn't so upset at the move. "Ready to face the fire nation?"

"Ready." Kyoshi nodded, knowing her war paint made nervous habits easier to resist.

They walked down the ramp, side by side. They crowd waiting at the bottom cheered and Kyoshi offered them a small smile. Daruka beamed at the attention, knowing that at least some of it was for him.

"Greetings, Avatar Kyoshi and-" the leader stopped and a sailor whispered in his ear, "Daruka of The Earth Kingdom. I hope you enjoy your stay learning our art." The announcer bowed with only the knuckles of his fist touching his other palm. Daruka copied but Kyoshi nodded.

"Thank you for your most gracious welcome. I am eager to learn the ways of the fire nation." Kyoshi turned to the announcer, "what is first on the agenda?"

"Follow me."

* * *

On the fourth day of being in the Fire Nation, Kyoshi was exhausted. She could now summon fire at will instead of in a rage. She could send jets of flames and she moved onto basic forms the day before. The spring heat was melting and she could be in the Fire nation until summer. She wanted Fire Nation clothes but she had to prove Daruka wrong by lasting five days. In 3 days she could definitely wear them. She wiped off her war paint and stripped to her under shirt. She grabbed a towel and went outside. She filled a bucket of water and poured it over her head. She wrapped the towel around herself and walked back inside.

"Feeling the heat yet?" Daruka found himself encased in earth before he could process what happened.

"I'm sorry, were you saying something?" Kyoshi lit her hand and stepped towards Daruka.

"Ok! Stop, sorry. That was mean, you're doing really well. Please, you know how badly I end up having my ass kicked by you when we last fell out." Daruka begged and Kyoshi relented. Daruka released himself, stunning Kyoshi.

"Teach me that, right now." Daruka raised his eyebrow at her. "Please could you teach me that, Sifu Ruka?"

"Of course." And he bent her into a column of rock. "You have an hour to figure it out yourself." Daruka smiled and walked away. Kyoshi refrained from cursing loudly until she had him to shout at. She figured it out in 10 minutes. She spent the next 50 minutes bending small rocks to hit Daruka when he wasn't looking. She was surprised he couldn't see her, seeing how she had grown to 6' on the boat ride over to the fire nation.

* * *

On the 6th night, Kyoshi decided enough was enough and snuck out of the house she was staying in to find some clothes in only a cream tunic and Daruka's trousers. She doubted the woman's dresses would fit her so she searched through the men's clothes.

"Umm, excuse me, Miss. If you are looking for the women's clothes, you will find them on the other side of the shop." Kyoshi stood up straight to find herself looking up to someone for the first time in the Fire nation, most people being her height at the tallest.

"Would the women's section stock clothes in my size for training purposes?" Kyoshi examined the man who had stopped her. He wore the same red as everyone else in the Fire Nation but his shirt bore the same symbol as the shop front.

"I am not sure, may I assist you in your search, Miss?" He asked. Kyoshi judged from the logoed shirt that he would probably have better knowledge than her.

"Yes, thank you, if you are not too troubled for it." He smiled.

"Not at all. I'm Tarak. My parents own this shop so I help out." Kyoshi nodded, too preoccupied with searching the racks for something she would wear. "Umm, any women's training clothes we keep over here," he said while steering Kyoshi from what she was looking at.

"Ah, this is much better than you, Taruk?"

"Tarak." He smiled at her slightly embarrassed face. "What may I call you, Miss?" Tarak asked.

"Kyoshi. It's nice to meet you Tarak." Kyoshi said, polite instincts kicking in.

"Likewise, Kyoshi. I'm guessing you don't want a crowd knowing you're here right now?"

"That would be preferable, yes." Kyoshi replied, trailing off as she scanned the racks again. Tarak picked out a tunic and showed it to her.

"Then might I suggest the name Suka for when you wish to travel incognito. And for your friend, Li. There are many Li's in the fire nation." Kyoshi took the offering and added it to her one other choice.

"Thank you. Where may I try these on?"

"Oh, that way, through one of those curtains. No one's in there at the moment so choose anyone. I'll be at the desk if you want to buy them or need any more help."

"Thank you, Tarak." Kyoshi offered a smile before heading through a curtain. She tried on the one she chose first. The plain tunic fell to her hips and had trousers that ended past her knee. They were nice, comfortable, and beat wear Daruka's clothes. She changed in to the set offered by Tarak. Again, the trousers ended by her knee but the top was not a tunic. The vest started tight around her chest but flowed from beneath. She decided both would work. Tarak had taste; she had to admit, as well as an unnatural talent for guessing sizes. She changed again back into her native clothes and stepped through the curtain to pay.

"Umm, Tarak, How much do these cost?" Kyoshi asked. The shop worker looked up from his post to look at her.

"Well, the one you picked out would be 7 silvers and the dressier one would be 5. Trousers factored in. So if you want them all, it would be 1 gold piece, or 12 silvers if you prefer to lighten your purse. Kyoshi flipped up a fire nation gold piece but the trajectory flung it backwards. She shot her hand back and grasped it before it hit anything.

"Bad flip, nice reflexes." Tarak said.

"I'll need to get used to the shape and weight of your coins before I try that again. Our money is circular. Thank you so much."

"See you later, Suza."

"Likewise, Tarak."

* * *

"I think, Avatar Kyoshi," Daruka drawled as much as he could while shouting through her door, "that I should take you out to find some true Fire Nation fash- oh." Kyoshi emerged from the bathroom across the hallway in the tunic Tarak chose, her dressier one. "When did you buy those?"

"Last night. Makeup or no makeup?"

"No makeup. Where did you get them from?" Daruka asked, increasingly curious.

"A shop not far from here, I only met one member staff though- Tarak?" Kyoshi answered, walking past Daruka to go downstairs.

"Oh, yeah, I know the place. Did you pick it out? Because it does-"

"Tarak pulled this one out for me. I did choose another outfit by myself; it was cheap compared to what my dresses usually cost, any more questions?" Kyoshi frowned at her friend. They may be inseparable but Kyoshi sometimes found him insufferable. Daruka paused, pretending to think.

"Nah, I think I'm done."

"Good, I'm starving."

* * *

**Ok, three updates in one day- this might actually be a record for me. So this is the biggest chapter yet (yay) and I have some idea where I want to take it. Reviews are wanted and appreciated (unless they're flames, flames make me sad for you) (Excellent use of English grammar there, Claire!)**

**A few things-**

**1) A beta would be appreciated as well as any spotted mistakes just bunged into reviews**

**2) Given on the lack of information beyond Kyoshi Island, The Kyoshi Warriors and the Dai Li, there isn't much information on Kyoshi's early life but of you do find a chronology error, I will do my best to rectify it.**

**3) I am British so I naturally use British English- it's not a spelling mistake**

**4) Thank you again to Kataang4eve for my first review on this**

**Thanks again for actually reading this :)**


	4. Kyoshi's first letter

Dearest Mother  
The fire nation is nothing like home but it is nice in other ways. The climate is too hot for my dress and makeup while practicing so I have spent some money on clothes. The food here is always full of fire flakes- they make everything spicy. I miss your cooking but my host family are very polite and nice as are most of the locals. Also, the meat is so tender that it feels like it would cut with a sharp glare! I will find out how they do it.  
I have mastered basic firebending techniques and have earned myself a rest from my crazy schedule. Daruka also taught me how to earthbend out of a column of earth that comes up to my neck. I might have accidentally done some airbending yesterday as well but I know I have to focus on firebending. My host has told me it is the element of power and my demeanour will help. He says my stature and drive will see me to succeed. Sifu Pundarik has informed me I am very good at firebending but he is concerned about my fans- he says I limit myself with them. I proceeded to show him that I was more powerful with the fans and we have come to an agreement- you should have seen it, mama! I created a great slice of fire that he had to dodge but he sent two jets at me while he was still bending backwards but used my fans to deflect them and return a cross slice. It was thrilling.  
I know that once I master firebending, I shall be going to the Southern air temple to learn airbending which means I can visit the peninsular on my way to the Northern water tribe. Even though the South is nearer, I have heard whispers of the North producing better fighters and Kuruk's family wishing to see his reincarnation.  
With all my love,  
Kyoshi

* * *

heheheh... so it's been a while

I'm going to write some more today


End file.
